1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and devices for repairing perforations and/or incisions in the wall of a hollow organ or body passage and, in particular, to a rivet-like device for sealing an opening in a blood vessel.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of surgical procedures which have now become common place are carried out intraluminally. Thus, a body duct such as a blood vessel is pierced and a catheter is inserted therethrough so that instruments can be inserted into the duct and/or the physician can inject radiographic contrast medium to view the physiology of the duct. Such procedures necessarily leave an aperture in the wall of the duct which must be sealed upon completion of the procedure. Punctures in blood vessels are of particular concern because of the problem of bleeding at the puncture site.
In the past, bleeding has been stopped by the application of pressure over the puncture site sufficiently long for hemostasis to occur. Such application of pressure results in a significant reduction if not a complete cessation of blood flow through the vessel in question and does not effectively prevent all hemorrhaging at the puncture site. Furthermore, when the patient has been dosed with anticoagulants, for example, it is particularly difficult to cease bleeding simply by applying manual pressure and it may be necessary to suture the blood vessel.
It has been previously proposed to insert a plug into the blood vessel and apply that plug against the inner surface of the blood vessel to close the puncture in the blood vessel wall. See, e.g., Kensey U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,744,364, 4,852,568, 4,890,612, 5,021,059 and 5,061,274. Typically, the Kensey plugs are held in a vessel sealing position by retracting a cord which extends from the plug and securing it to the patient's skin.
Another approach is typified by the Vasoseal, marketed by DataScope. That concept is basically the opposite of the Kensey-type device. It operates by sealing near the hole in the blood vessel from the outside by injecting liquid collagen in the track of the sheath as it is being withdrawn from the vessel.
Yet another approach is a vessel plug (PCT publication No. WO 92/05740) which like Vasoseal plugs the vessel from the outside only.
The disadvantage of the above described products and processes is that, because they are applied against only one face of the wound, they often do not form an effective enough seal and may be cumbersome to use.